Thursday, 16 January 2014

Despite army chief’s restraint, Pakistan gets hard-line message

Army
chief General Bikram Singh's
unmistakably optimistic assessment of the situation on the borders, in
Afghanistan, and in Jammu & Kashmir has ironically evoked a sharp rejoinder
from the Pakistani military's public relations wing. The reason - with the
Indian media reporting only hard line statements, cherry-picked from the army
chief's overall positive appraisal, the sense conveyed was of hawkish
posturing, rather than the positive mood that Gen Singh tried to strike.

Speaking at his
annual Army Day press conference on Monday, the army chief had made an
important statement on ceasefire violations. Insisting the army would not be
easily provoked, he stated: "Our country wants to move head. These
(ceasefire violations) are issues at the tactical level. And, tactical level operations
should not impinge on the strategic initiatives of the nation, which are for
growth of the nation in a regional context. They are part of the grand strategy
of the nation. My job is to ensure that I engage the adversary where necessary
to the quantum of force that is required and do not escalate the situation into
one that will impinge on the strategic initiatives."

He said after
the two armies' operational chiefs, the director generals of military
operations (DGMOs), held talks last month, relative calm had been restored on
the Line of Control (LoC).
He stated: "I think it is a move in the right direction to ensure that the
ceasefire holds and the environment over there is conducive for development on
both sides and the aspirations of the locals. A large number of locals in those
areas suffer (in firing incidents) and the ceasefire looks after their
aspirations."

The army chief
added, "At the moment I am quite positive… We are having the meeting of
two brigade commanders the dates for which have not been fixed. The DGMOs are
speaking to each other on the hotline on a regular basis. We are hopeful that
this will result in ensuring ceasefire along the LoC."

At the same
time, Gen Singh revealed the Indian Army was responding to firing with firing.
"Let me assure you that action has been taken. If you see the Pakistani
media, I was watching Geo TV on 23rd December, they were talking of one
(Pakistani) officer and nine jawans being killed, and 12 or 13 being wounded.
This has happened due to the firing of your soldiers on the ground," he
asserted.

The army chief
was upbeat about the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between China and India,
stating the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement the two countries signed last
October would ensure "better understanding and bonhomie and peace and
tranquillity on the borders."

Taking a broader
strategic view of patrol violations on the ground, he said, "This
agreement is going to further strengthen the understanding at the LAC level and
even at the army headquarters level and also at the national level. Our
endeavour is to move ahead in right earnest to ensure that we maintain peace
and tranquillity to enable the strategic and national initiatives to fructify
and consolidate."

In contrast to
the foreign
ministry's pessimistic assessments about Pakistani influence growing
in Afghanistan after the NATO
troop drawdown this year, the army chief believes the Afghan National Army
(ANA) would hold its own against any challenges. "Given the capacity that
has been given by the international community, along with our contribution, the
ANA and police forces should be able to deal with the situation."

While Indian intelligence
agencies have sounded dire warnings about jihadi fighters from Afghanistan
being funnelled into J&K after NATO leaves, the army chief was far less
pessimistic, conveying this was no more than a possibility. "A good army
man hopes for the best but caters for the worst. From that point of view, it is
axiomatic, it is imperative that we see that there might be a certain spillover
from Afghanistan into Jammu & Kashmir. There are certain inputs alluding to
this already. And therefore we need to be on our guard," he said.

Asked about the
possibility of withdrawing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from
J&K, the army chief did not reject the idea as flatly as the army has done
in the past. He said, "We need to look at what happens in Afghanistan in
2014 before we can (consider revoking AFSPA). Perhaps it may be prudent to
watch and wait for a while."